West Ham United vs. Wolves
Venue: London Stadium
Kick off: 7PM
West Ham United is seeking their first points of the Premier League season as they prepare for the visit of Wolverhampton Wanderers this evening.
The Hammers have lost their opening two league games of the campaign, while Wolves have a mixed return of one win and one defeat so far.
Two games into the Premier League season and David Moyes is already the clear favourite to be the first manager sacked on the back of United’s slow start.
Moyes’s men followed up a 2-0 loss at home to Newcastle United on the opening weekend with a late 2-1 defeat against Arsenal and have a tough run of fixtures to come.
Indeed, the meeting with Arsenal was the first of six in a row against last season’s top eight, culminating in a trip to champions Liverpool on Halloween weekend.
Taking time to get going is nothing new for the Irons, though, having lost two of their opening three matches in two of the last three seasons.
United, who did manage to brush aside Hull City in the EFL Cup third round in midweek, must also cope without their manager in the dugout this weekend.
The Scotsman tested positive for coronavirus hours before kickoff against Hull in a farcical situation and must now self-isolate, meaning that Alan Irvine will take charge.
This is not a fixture United tend to do well in, either, losing their last four league encounters with Wolves without scoring a single goal.
Unlike their opponents, Nuno Espirito Santo’s charges have had a full week’s rest, too, after being eliminated from the EFL Cup in the second round.
Nuno will know that there are areas to improve on following the 3-1 loss to Manchester City last time out, with Wolves deservedly beaten after taking too long to get going.
Raul Jimenez pulled one back after Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden had given City some breathing space, only for Gabriel Jesus to wrap up the victory late on.
Wanderers do have some points on the board, however, thanks to a 2-0 victory against Sheffield United on the opening weekend, and have a nice set of fixtures ahead.
That includes this trip to the London Stadium, where West Ham have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 10 matches – their longest such run in more than a decade.
West Ham United possible XI: Fabianski, Fredericks, Balbuena, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Masuaku, Bowen, Rice, Soucek, Fornals, Antonio.
Wolverhampton Wanderers possible XI: Patricio, Boly, Coady, Saiss, Semedo, Neves, Moutinho, Vinagre, Traore, Jimenez, Podence.